Invalid chair having adjustable headrest seat and footrest

ABSTRACT

AN INVALID CHAIR HAS A PAIR OF FIXED LATERAL FRAME MEMBERS WHICH SUPPORT A PAIR OF UPRIGHT TUBULAR MEMBERS AND A FOOTREST ASSEMBLY ANGULARLY ADJUSTABLE UP AND DOWN THE TUBULAR MEMBERS. THE FRAME MEMBERS ALSO SUPPORT A SEAT WHICH IS ADJUSTABLE POSITIONABLE BETWEEN THE FRAME MEMBERS. A BACKREST IS SECURED BETWEEN THE FRAME MEMBERS AND ADJUSTABLY SUPPORTS A HEADREST.

June 27, 1972 Q MURCQTT 3,672,722

INVAILD CHAIR HAVING ADJUSTABLE HEADREST, SEAT, AND FOOTREST Filed May1,' 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. C HA RL ES E. MURCOTT FIG. 2 W

ATTORNEY June 27, 1972 c, MURCQTT 3,672,722

INVAILD CHAIR HAVING ADJUSTABLE HEADREST, SEAT, AND FOOTREST Filed May1, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 6

CHA RL ES QYWSE'OTT ATTORNEY -United States Patent 01 lice 3,672,722Patented June 27, 1972 3,672,722 INVALID CHAIR HAVING ADJUSTABLEHEADREST, SEAT, AND FOOTREST Charles E. Murcott, Huntington, N.Y.,assignor to Lumex Inc., Bay Shore, N.Y. Filed May 1, 1970, Ser. No.33,550 Int. Cl. A97c 7/50 US. Cl. 297-437 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE This invention relates to improvements in invalid chairs and,more particularly, concerns an invalid chair having an adjustableheadrest, adjustable seat and adjustable footrest.

The invention involves improvements over those disclosed in my priorU.S. Pats. 3,325,215 and 3,123,397,

as well as other invalid chairs heretofore known. A principal diflicultyencountered with prior invalid chairs is that the several parts do nothave a sufiiciently wide range of adjustment to accommodate severelyhandicapped invalids, particularly those suffering from cerebral palsyand other debilitating infirmities of like severity. When such personsare fed or undergoing treatment, they must assume sitting postures whichare sometimes rather unusual and awkward. Sometimes one foot is higherthan the other. Frequently adjustments must be made in the footrest,backrest and seat. Conventional invalid chairs are poorly adapted formaking these adjustments and, thus, in many cases patients are notcomfortably supported.

The present invention is directed at overcoming the above and otherdifiiculties and disadvantages of prior invalid chairs and, at the sametime, providing an improved invalid chair having a wider range ofadjustments than conventional invalid chairs.

According to the invention, the invalid chair has a footrest assemblywhich is pivotally engaged with tubular arms. These arms are secured tosleeves which in turn are adjustable on vertical posts at the front ofthe chair. By this arrangement, the footrest can be angularly orvertically disposed at will. Furthermore, the pivotal mounting enablesthe footrest to be raised and lowered by angular movements which can bedone while an invalid is seated in the chair.

According to another feature of the invention, an adjustable andremovable headrest is provided supported by stationary backrest.Furthermore, the chair has an inclined adjustable seat.

These and other objects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an invalid chair embodying theinvention;

'FIG. 2 is a plan view partially in section showing the adjustablefootrest, taken along line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial rear elevational view showing the adjustableheadrest;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view with portions brokenaway, showing the adjustable seat construction;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 2,through a footrest support, a platform of the footrest being omitted;

FIG. 6 is a further enlarged cross sectional view taken along the line66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional "view through the footresttaken along line 7-7 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the footrest taken alongline 8-8 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the platform of the footrest shown in aninverted position.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference charactersdesignate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views,there is illustrated in FIG. 1 an invalid chair generally designated byreference numeral 10, having a rigid frame 12 formed by a pair ofvertically curved tubular members 16, slightly inclined arm portions 18,front leg portions 20 and rear leg portions 22. The member 16, arms 18,legs 20 and 22 are an integral part of frame 12. However, if desiredthey may be manufactured as individual parts and rigidly securedtogether. Rotatably secured to the bottom ends of the respective frontand rear legs 20 and 22 are front and rear wheels 24, 25, and in thepreferred embodiment, the wheels 25 may be universally mounted forrotation in a horizontal plane as well. Additionally, the rear wheelsmay have braking means attached thereto. Two pair of horizontal uppertubular brace bars 26, 28, and one pair of lower brace bars 30 arerigidly joined to the front and rear legs 20, 22. An adjustable table32,

which is carried by a pair of members 34, 36 is adapted to be storedalong side the chair opposite the side illustrated in FIG. 1 and is morecompletely described in my Pat. No. 3,123,397.

According to the invention, there is provided a pair of verticalstationary tubular posts 40 secured by bolts 42, 44 to the inner sidesof the front legs 20. The tubular posts 40 extend downwardly and areinclined upwardly as illustrated in FIG. 1. Each of the posts 40 has aplurality of axially spaced holes 46 as most clearly shown in FIG. 5.Slidably disposed on each of the tubular posts 40 is a sleeve member 48which integrally supports a footrest support 50. Each of the sleevemembers 48 is respectively held in place by a spring loaded pin 52 whichmay be engaged selectively in one of the holes 46 (see FIG. 5 and FIG.6). Each of the footrest supports 50 includes a tubular arm 54 extendingaxially upward from the sleeve member 48. The tubular arms 54 areinclined axially upwardly and forwardly as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. Thesearms are adapted to be engaged in an arcuate finger 56 of a bracket 58secured by a screw 59 to the underside of a footrest platform generallydesignated by reference numeral 60. (See FIGS. 7, 8 and 9.) The brackets58 frictionally engage the tubular arms 54 so that the footrest 60 maybe turned angularly thereon when the pins 52 are disengaged from theholes 46 in one of the posts 40. This motion is indicated by dottedlines in FIG. 7. The internal diameter of each of the sleeve members 48is larger than the external diameter of the tubular posts 411) toprovide spaces S therebetween as shown most clearly in FIG. 6. By thisarrangement, the footrest 60 may be worked angularly up or down theaxially upright tubular posts 40. The foot rest 60 may be held in anangular position with respect to the floor F transversely of the chairif this is necessary for the comfort of the patient occupying the chair.The angular up and down adjustment of the footrest 60 enables theadjustment to be made while the chair is occupied by a patient which isa great convenience. That is, a nurse is now free to use one hand tohold the chest of a patient and thereby prevent the patient from fallingforward while using her other free hand to adjust the footrest. In thepreferred embodiment, the footrest 60 may be provided with a resilientrubber traction tread 62, a metal edge molding 63 covering an inner woodcore 64 and the bottom of the core may be covered with a plastic sheet66. A pair of tubular foot members 61 are adjustably inserted in thebottom ends of the posts 40 and are each held in place by a resilientlyloaded pin 67 (see FIG.

The foot members 61 carry a cup-shaped bumper 65 at their respectiveouter free ends. The foot members extend close to floor F at the frontof the chair and restrict the amount of forward tilt of the chair if apatient stands on the footrest 60.

A seat, generally designated by reference numeral 70, as clearly shownin FIGS. 1 and 4, has a wooden base 72, covered with a padding 74. Tworectangular vertically disposed metal plates 78, 80 are secured tolateral side walls 76 and top wall 77 of the base 72 by a plurality ofscrews 73. The plate 78 has a plurality of holes 82 which are adapted toreceive a spring loaded pin 84 which in turn is slidably engaged in alateral guide bar 86 extending between the front and rear legs of thechair at one side of seat 70. Another guide bar 88 is located at theother side of the seat 70. The plates 78 and 80 are slidable along theinner sides of bars 86, 88, which are tilted somewhat downwardly asillustrated in FIG. 1 to permit easier digestion of food by certaintypes of invalid patients, i.e. spastic children, etc. The seat moveswith the guide plates 78, 80 and may be positioned along the bars 86, 88by the pin 84. A pair of stop bars 90, 92 are positioned traverselybetween the bars 86, 88 respectively and are secured at opposite endsthereto. A bracket 94 is also secured at opposite ends of the seat 70and the underside thereof. The bracket 94 moves with the seat 70 betweenbars 90, 92 and is stopped at either end by bar 90 or 92. This limitsthe range of movement of the seat between bars 90, 92 and prevents theseat from being raised.

The chair has a vertical backrest 96 which is padded and secured to thetubular rear legs 22. These tubular legs are open at the top and receivetubular arms 93 of a removable U-shaped handle 95. A padded rectangularheadrest 97 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 is secured to an inverted U-shapedtubular member 98. A pair of legs 9'9 of the member 98 extend below theheadrest and are adjustably inserted in respective tubular supportmembers 100 welded to a pair of cross bars 102 which are secured byscrews 104 to the rear of the backrest 96. A spring loaded pin 103 onone of the support members 100 engages selectively in one of a pluralityof holes 106 located in one of legs 99 for holding the headrest inposition above the backrest.

By the arrangement described, the chair can be adjusted at the head,feet and seat of the patient for utmost comfort to suit any one or moreof a multitude of physical disabilities. In addition the shape andparticularly the large size of the footrest 60 permit it to be used forpatients of a great many different statures. Thus as clearly illustratedin FIG. 1 a portion of the footrest extends under the seat and thiscondition will exist even if the seat is in the rear most position andthe footrest is in the lowest position, i.e., bracket 94 against thestop bar 90, and the stop pin 52 is in the lowest hole 46, whereby apatient regardless of size may comfortably rest his feet on the platform60.

It should be understood that the foregoing disclosure relates to only apreferred embodiment of the invention and that it is intended to coverall changes and modifications of the examples of the invention hereinchosen for the purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitutedepartures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a chair assembly of the type wherein a pair of 4 lateral framemembers secures thereinbetween a stationary backrest, a substantiallyhorizontal seat and a footrest assembly, the improvement which comprisesa pair of tubular posts secured to said frame members in an axiallyupright position;

a footrest carried by said tubular posts and arranged for angularadjustment up and down along said posts,

said footrest comprising a sleeve member loosely fitted around each ofsaid tubular posts;

a tubular arm extending outwardly from each of said sleeve members;

a Hat footrest platform; and

a pair of bracket means secured to said platform at its underside, oneof said pair of bracket means partially encircling and frictionallygripping one of said tubular arms whereby each of said bracket means isturnable angularly on said tubular arms; and

means for holding said footrest platform on said tubular posts in anyselected position along said posts.

2. A chair assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for holdingsaid footrest platform on said tubular posts comprises a first springloaded pin carried by each one of said sleeve members on said tubularposts, each of said tubular posts having a plurality of spaced holes toselectively receive and engage one of said spring loaded pins.

3. A chair assembly as defined in claim 2 further comprising a bent footmember adjustably inserted in the bottom end of each of said tubularposts; and

a second spring loaded pin carried by each of said bent foot members andselectively engaged in one of said holes in one of said tubular posts.

4. A chair assembly as defined in claim 1 further comprising asubstantially horizontal side bar secured to each of said frame members,said seat being movably mounted on said side bars;

a guide member means carried by said seat between said side bars;

means engageable with said guide member means to hold said seat in placeon said side bars;

and stop means for limiting forward and rearward movement of said seaton said side bars.

5. A chair assembly as defined in claim 1 further comprising a headrestadjustably carried by said backrest and located above said backrest.

6. A chair assembly as defined in claim 5, further comprising a pair ofupright parallel tubular members secured to said backrest; and

an inverted U-shaped tubular support rigidly secured externally to saidheadrest and having depending legs adjustably inserted in said tubularmembers on said backrest.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,675,057 4/1954 Glass 2974293,123,397 3/1964 Murcott 297 1,877,769 9/ 1932 Knapp 248-420 3,429,6152/ 1969 Belk 297410 3,482,873 12/1969 'Pivacek 297429 3,362,738 1/1968Dygert et a1. 108-446 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner G. MOORE, AssistantExaminer US. Cl. X.R. 297410

